In March 2020, Aotearoa New Zealand implemented a fast, early and blanket response to COVID-19.
And it worked — it was arguably the best response in the world.
Eighteen months on, the world has evolved. The virus has evolved. Aotearoa's response needs to evolve, too.
But can we protect lives while enabling livelihoods, and do we have to choose?
How might we unlock kiwi ingenuity and create safe and fair self-managed systems?
What could a reimagined future of Aotearoa’s COVID response look like?
In this free webinar, Sir Ian Taylor (Ngāti Kahungunu), Dr Siousxie Wiles and radhika reddy join Boma NZ CEO Kaila Colbin for a nuanced conversation about Aotearoa's COVID response and the necessity of evolution.
You’ll hear balanced perspectives and bold ideas to help us shape what’s possible in Aotearoa’s long-term COVID strategy — and the risks of not adapting at all.
When: 8-9:30 a.m. NZDT Friday, 8 October
(That's 9 p.m. GMT+2 / 3 p.m. EDT Thursday, 7 October)
This event will be live close captioned.
About the speakers
Sir Ian Taylor
Sir Ian Taylor (Ngāti Kahungunu) has been a vocal advocate for an inclusion of insights, innovation and improvement in regard to the evolution of Aotearoa’s COVID response. His perspective comes from years of experience as an enterprise visionary in Aotearoa. He has highlighted two specific weaknesses in the NZ vs. COVID gameplan: the Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) booking platform, and the current system of lockdown.
Ian was named Outstanding Māori Business Leader of the Year in 2013, Innovator of the Year at the 2019 New Zealander of the Year Awards, and Deloitte 200’s Visionary Leader of the Year in 2020. His company Animation Research Limited (ARL) is recognised as a global leader in technology and innovation.
Sir Ian's end goal in the evolution of Aotearoa’s COVID response is the collective championing of the nation's well-being, without compromising lives or livelihood.
Dr Siouxsie Wiles
Award winning microbiologist and the nation's top science communicator Dr. Siouxsie Wiles enters the discussion to inform on the science and methodology of the country's collective response to COVID-19. Dr. Wiles explores prioritising health and wellbeing, tackling misinformation, and moving forward with enterprise and epidemiology in balance.
Siouxsie is an Associate Professor at the University of Auckland where she and her team make bacteria glow in the dark to understand how infectious microbes make us sick and to find new medicines. She is also an enthusiastic tweeter, blogger, artist, curator and media science commentator and has won numerous prizes for her efforts, including the Prime Minister’s Science Media Communication Prize and the Royal Society Te Apārangi’s Callaghan Medal.
Siouxsie was named New Zealander of the Year 2021 for helping Aotearoa navigate the complexities of COVID-19, building a global community with her work.
radhika reddy
At the intersection of technology and society, radhika reddy applies the latest behavioural design and behaviour change frameworks for smarter planning. She aims to enhance capability and expand opportunity with a focus on tech and policy, ensuring people have what they need to maximise well-being for all.
radhika is an independent software developer, reluctant public policy advocate and part-time community organiser. She has worked for over 15 years in the commercial sector in startups and with enterprise on software projects ranging from geospatial intelligence for local governments, to leading email security services, and cutting-edge presentation tools for a remote world.
In the community, she helps with initiatives like hackerspaces, developer groups and open source development, as well as grassroots rainbow and progressive ethnic groups. Always tinkering with tech and deep-diving into research about society, she writes her findings on social media and makes the odd media appearance.
Kaila Colbin
Kaila Colbin is a co-founder of Boma Global, CEO of Boma New Zealand and a certified Dare to Lead™ facilitator. She is a renowned and sought after international public speaker, having presented to more than 25,000 people about the exponential technological trends coming our way and how we can be more intentional, intelligent and courageous about the future.
A serial entrepreneur since the age of 22, Kaila has dedicated more than 15 years to enhancing Aotearoa’s global connectedness and championing Aotearoa on the world stage. She spearheaded the hugely successful SingularityU New Zealand and Australia summits and was formerly the curator and licensee for TEDxChristchurch in New Zealand and TEDxScottBase in Antarctica.
Kaila is a co-founder and trustee of the non-profit Ministry of Awesome and has extensive governance experience, including serving as chair of the New York-based Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts, and deputy chair of ChristchurchNZ and CORE Education Ltd. She is also a certified ExO consultant, a Climate Project Ambassador who trained with Al Gore, and a project management professional. Her purpose in life is to be an uplifting presence.
If you have any questions about this event, please email us on [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you on Zoom!
